Life is good on Nusa Lembongan

We dove with the Bali Diving Academy that is at Bungalow no. 7 and it was the best! It was $90 CAD total for 2 amazing dives. I got to see a Shark up close, many huge Manta Rays as big as 10 ft from fin to fin, a Giant Puffer Fish, and various beautiful colourful coral and fish! The boat was already packed with all our rental gear, and even between dives we went to a beach to eat our provided lunch, they switched over our tanks for us! After the dive, I automatically gathered my gear to take off the boat to wash and put away as usual, but they said no it was fine to leave it on the boat; they rinse and put everything away, how easy! I loved it because the gear is so heavy and it just made the diving experience so simple and easy. The dive boat was all Canadians, as it was us 3 and another group of 5. They all had strong accents and it was evident English was their second language, so we were surprised when they told us they were Canadian too, from Quebec. They were really nice and staying at Bungalow No. 7 as well.

When we were eating out lunch between dives at Crystal Bay on Nusa Penida, I was full from my fried noodles with chicken and egg, I had it beside me in the container and these two little local boys around 8 years old was staring and pointing at my food. They did not speak any English but Dustin said I think they want your food, so I held it out to them to see if that is what they wanted, and they were so happy and went shared it. It felt great that my food was not wasted and that someone hungry could enjoy my leftovers. I began feeling guilty that I stuffed myself, I could have eaten a lot less, and been able to share more, if I had known they were that hungry and desperate for food.

The children in Nusa Lembongan are so friendly, and we each encountered our own authentic experience. When Dustin was at the beach, a young boy was showing him how he fished using a pop can and a string, and a little girl taught him how they catch the worms in the sand, to use as fishing bait. You wait for the tide water to run over the sand, and then see little movement in the sand where you pluck the worms from underneath. The kids don’t speak English yet, but you can tell they are learning it and are usually able to ask your name. A few days later I was out swimming at our beach when the children came to play before dinner. Three little girls surrounded me, asked me my name, played with my hair, and pulled on my arms to come play. They both hopped onto my back, so I towed them around and they loved it. It was so funny; they just kept clinging onto me and wanting me throw them and catch them, and boost them up onto the boats and catch them when they jumped off. They played with my hands and put sand and seaweed in them. One little girl played that clapping game with me that I knew from elementary school, and she sang a song in Balinese to go alone with it. It was really fun, they always seem like they are having the best time. Kevin’s experience was really funny. We were scootering around exploring Nusa Ceningan Island, when 3 little boys probably 7 years old, put their hands out and stood across the scooter road stopping us. They spoke in Balinese and we could not understand anything they were saying. I was already on the back of Dustin’s bike, and Kevin was on his own, so one of the boys jumped onto Kevin’s bike for a ride, then the other 2 did the same! Kevin had 3 little kids on his scooter and they said GO GO GO. So we continued down the road, giving the kids a ride home from school. About 200 meters down the road a frantic mother was yelling things in Balinese and stood out in the road after we passed her. We figured that must have been one of the kid’s moms, so we pulled over, and one of the boys jumped off as it was his stop. The other to said GO, GO so went down the road about another hundred meters when the boys said STOP and Kev dropped them off, and they waved goodbye.

On mine and Dustin’s last night in Nusa Lembongan, it was a full moon. Being only 8 degrees south of the equator, the Moon was almost directly above us in the sky, and it was SO BRIGHT. I have never seen the moon so bright in my life; it actually lit up everything with a beautiful moon glow, and produced shadows. Today Dustin and I are on our way to Vietnam, stopping in Singapore for a layover.  Kevin decided to stay an extra week in Bali and fit some more surfing in, and we wanted to get to Vietnam so we are still able to fit a week of Chaing Mai in at the end of our trip, as Kevin will be meeting his friend Ava in Vietnam on March 10th.

Just at the Singapore Airport now, about to board the plane!

Xo

Jade